Pear and chocolate tarts

NZ Woman's Weekly 10/9/2010

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These rich tarts not only taste sensational, they look amazing! As a variation, use fresh or frozen raspberries over the top of the filling.

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3 sheets	Butter crust sweet short pastry
100 g	Dark chocolate
½ cup	Caster sugar
2	Eggs
120 g	Ground almonds
1 tbsp	Flour
1	Pear, firm but ripe
1 to dust	Icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180 deg. Line 5 individual tart pans (10cm diameter) with pastry, cover with baking paper and weights and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove weights and cook for a further 3-5 minutes until pastry base is just golden.
Gently melt chocolate and mix until smooth.
Place butter and sugar in a bowl and mix until pale and creamy, add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in ground almonds, flour and melted chocolate. Spoon chocolate filling into pastry shells.
Peel pear and cut into quarters - if the pear is large then you may need to cut into eighths. Place a wedge of pear in each tart and gently press into the chocolate.
Bake for 20 minutes or until filling is set. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.